“Defining vision” is this company’s goal
By Meredith Westgate, Special Features Writer

Published: Feb 14, 2005 11:02 AM EST

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - J. Glenn Ebersole Jr., strives to “help people define their vision.” As Chief Executive Officer of J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group™ his goal is to facilitate turning small to medium business owners’ dreams and goals into reality. In the process, he educates them to be strategic thinkers and to work toward long-range goals.Ebersole began his career in engineering, management, marketing, and public relations in 1970 with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania where he worked in various transportation-related departments.

In 1982 he left a corporate position in civil engineering to pursue a more “people-oriented” career that would draw upon his diverse experience and interests. J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group™, founded by Ebersole in 1982 and 1983, offer what he calls “a unique approach to a wide range of strategic planning, management, marketing, public relations and communications assignments through a team of independent professionals.” Ebersole likes to say that his focus changed from the “business of building to the building of business.”

If Ebersole were consulting with your business, he would likely interview every employee from management on down. The interviews might begin something like this: “Tell me how you want to make a difference.”

His first priority is to listen to what owner, managers, and staff have to say about the needs, problems, and assets of the business.

He then “initiates a dialog that leads to developing a long-term mutually beneficial working relationship.”

One method Ebersole uses is the SWOT technique. SWOT, an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats, and Opportunities, is a process by which business owners analyze these key factors as they relate to their business and their competitors.

Once Ebersole fully understands the unique needs of the business, he works with the owner or management team to form a strategic plan. Each plan is tailored and customized to meet the company’s unique needs, solve its problems, and facilitate the process of finding direction and establishing goals.

Ebersole involves every employee in the process so that the entire staff has ownership in the final plan.

The basis of this approach is one of Ebersole’s favorite quotes, “The person who makes me feel the most worthwhile is the one who asks me what I think” (Henry David Thoreau).

Experience has taught him that much can be learned from employees simply by asking questions. This approach, he says, “allows businesses to discover concerns that otherwise, would have been overlooked.”

Ebersole simplifies the process of forming a strategic plan by breaking it down into five simple steps: a vision statement (usually one sentence), a mission statement (action plan for achieving the vision), a statement of core values that guides the process, a list of short and long term goals, and a commitment page signed by each member of the management team.

The latter insures that each member is personally invested in the plan and is held accountable for his/her decisions. Ebersole then facilitates implementation of the plan by working with team leaders to break down goals into manageable tasks.

Once the plan is completed and signed, Ebersole ensures that each employee is given a copy of the plan to each employee so that everyone “knows where the bus is going.”

Most business owners would not argue the benefits of establishing direction and setting goals, yet they avoid or delay doing so for many reasons, Ebersole said.

One common cause for delay is “a perception that the management team simply isn’t ready for strategic planning - and therefore if they delay until they are ready, they will achieve better planning.”

Ebersole suggests that delaying may be detrimental to a company’s growth.

“There is no company that will ever be fully ready,” he said. “Also, Ôbetter’ planning next year is seldom really Ôbetter’ and there has been a year of lost opportunities.”

One company he worked with had been in operation for 22 years with no business plan and no budget. Although successful by many standards, the company could have been so much more so with a sound plan for growth and development.

Ebersole has a unique ability to Ôthink outside the box.’ Where others see obstacles, he envisions opportunity.

“Business should be an enabler, not a barrier,” he said. “If (you are a business owner and) your dream is to travel around the world, you should not be thinking of how your work prevents you from realizing your dream. You should be figuring out how your business can help you to do that.”

Ebersole stresses that increased profitability should not be the primary goal of forming a strategic plan. “Financial growth is a by-product,” he said. “A plan is created to “provide a service, provide a solution or to meet a need.” If the plan is a good one and people believe in it, “then profit will come.”